It took more than a day to reach Dreila, which was on the outskirts of the city. Fog billowed close to the ground and painted everything it touched in grey hues. The wooden houses were desolate, and some had doors still open like the owners had just stepped out for a moment, only to never return.
Ashlyn stepped out of the car and, unable to see beyond their fingertips, stayed close to the rest of the group to prevent becoming separated from them. Eriladar was familiar with the place as he had been sent to do a task here before, and he easily navigated his way through the streets. After walking for a while, they met up with the old lady, Marilyne, who had visited Skyreach days before.
Her back arched forward, with wrinkles that etched her aged face and her eyes, once filled with life, were now dull and had lost their twinkle. When she spoke, her voice was raspy and wasn't very pleasant to hear. "Good, you're here."
"Sorry, it took us so long to get here," Eriladar spoke politely and greeted the old woman good-naturedly. "Can you explain what has happened here again? I've brought my companions here with me, and they haven't heard the whole story."
The old woman didn't speak for a moment and studied the group before her instead. One man was tall with long dark hair, had fierce eyes and stood quietly at the back. The man who had just spoken to her had silvery hair tied in a ponytail that lay carelessly over his shoulder and looked to be the most reliable.
The shorter man of all three had mousy features and stood close to the silver-haired male's side. And the last person had a cheerful appearance and was looking curiously at everything around them.
After she had examined them for a while, the people around her felt uneasy with her scrutinizing look, so she made a sound and turned away. The group guessed that meant she wanted them to follow her, so they fell into step behind her.
Along with the fog, a chill had settled over Dreila and gave the village an unsettling atmosphere.
Vacant houses spread out on either side of the winding path and dust had settled on the wooden platforms outside, and ivy grew up the cracking walls. Doors swung on their hinges, and the creaking sounds were intimidating and were the only sounds that could be heard, including their footsteps on the gravelly path. Dry, leafless, forked trees lined the paths and appeared lonely as they swayed in the wind.
Beneath their feet, the path was covered in leaves, dust and ground-up stones that were sharp and almost penetrated the soles of their shoes. And while the group tried to avoid the stones, the old woman seemed unaffected and only cared about leading them to her desired destination.
Nox was at the back of the group, and although he was his usual silent self, he was using his senses honed in the dungeon to keep an eye out for possible danger. A strange feeling overcame him, like there were countless eyes glued to his back. Pausing in his step and turning around, he focused his eyes on one house and swept them over the ones beside it. A shadow flitted away from the window and moved deeper inside the house.
The person that the shadow belonged to shrank back against the wall and shivered. It had been so long since anyone had been to the village and in their curiosity had looked out of the window, only to see the old woman who lived alone and a group of strangers. Fear had been a constant since the first disappearance, and the person hoped that the strangers would stay far away from where they were: they wanted to stay inconspicuous, lest they were the next one to disappear.
"Nox, what are you looking at?" Ashlyn looked up at the taller male and questioned. They followed his line of sight but didn't see anything. Confusion marred their thoughts for a moment, but brightened up the next moment and waited for Nox's reply.
"I thought someone was watching us, but it's gone now." He squinted his eyes, giving his features an extra layer of fierceness, and added, "we should catch up with the others."
Ashlyn agreed with him and with one last look back in the direction that was pointed out by Nox, they too felt the feeling of being watched, but it didn't feel dangerous. They chose to ignore it and hurried to catch up with Eriladar and the others.
The old woman's pace was neither too fast nor slow, and soon they reached a house that was set apart from the others. It stood alone and wasn't as shabby as the surrounding houses. Actually, it looked like the old woman took great care of it and the fog seemed to avoid the house and instead chose to hang low over the surrounding ground.
A young man was waiting outside on the porch swing and got to his feet when he saw the approaching figures. His face tightened for a moment and a sinister glint flashed through his eyes, only to turn into one of glee when he saw the old woman hobbling up the stairs. White knuckles showed as she clutched the cane in her bony hand, and she grunted when her feet stepped onto the patio.
Her solemn expression eased up when she saw the young man and she allowed him to help her into the house and settled down onto a chair in the kitchen. The first floor was split into a living room and an open-plan kitchen: a long counter separated the two rooms and a set of chairs were set out before the counter. A fireplace was against one wall in the living room. It was bare and looked like it hadn't been lit in a long time - the log holder beside it was empty and the fire poker lay untouched beside it.
The kitchen was bare except for the basic amenities and the table in the middle. Including the chair that was taken by the old woman, there were five chairs in total. The young man took a seat beside the old woman, and said, "feel free to sit anywhere. It's been a long time since my grandmother had any guests. This house will feel finally lively again, since father and mother..."
The old woman shot him a glare, cutting the young man's sentence short, and she barked, "don't mention them. If they didn't leave that day, how would they get taken? That man has always been a waste, and now he dragged down my daughter once again."
"Grandma!" The young man started to rebuke her but was shot down by her glare once more. He bit his tongue and swallowed the words that wanted to spill out. A fire sprouted in his heart, but he could only squash it and keep silent.
"Ahem," Eriladar cleared his throat and smiled through the awkwardness. "Now we're here. Can you tell us about the disappearances?"